The author (Masha Gessen [1]) was born and raised in the Soviet Union, moved to the US in 1981 as a refugee, and returned to Russia in 1991 and lived there unti

The author (Masha Gessen [1]) was born and raised in the Soviet Union, moved to the US in 1981 as a refugee, and returned to Russia in 1991 and lived there until 2013. That sure makes them seem qualified to make this comparison to me. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masha_Gessen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masha_Gessen